Everyone Who Loves

Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
– 1 John 4:7-12


These words are not simply poetic—they are foundational. Love is not just one of God's attributes. Love is God’s very nature. And when we love others, especially other followers of Jesus, we participate in something divine. We reflect the character of the One who loved us first.

The early Christians who received this letter were already facing disagreement and division within the faith community. John does not urge them to correct each other, fix each other, or avoid each other. He urges them to love each other, because loving one another is how God’s presence becomes visible in our midst. “No one has ever seen God,” John writes, “but if we love one another…His love is perfected in us.”

The kind of love John describes is not dependent on shared theology or aligned views. It’s rooted in the initiating love of God through Christ. That kind of love changes how we see one another. It calls us to humility and compassion, not because we agree with others, but because we have all been loved beyond deserving.


Questions


1. What does it mean to you that “God is love”?

2. How has God’s love for you shaped the way you view other believers—especially those with different beliefs?

3. What would it look like for God’s love to be “perfected” in your relationships this week?


Suggested Activity

Reach out to someone in your life who follows Jesus but holds different perspectives or convictions. Instead of discussing your differences, offer encouragement or ask how you can pray for them. Let your actions speak love, not argument.


Prayer


God of love, 

You sent Your Son so that I might live through Him. Your love came first—before I ever sought You, before I understood anything about You. Help me to reflect that same kind of love toward others. When I’m tempted to draw lines or hold back, remind me of the cross. Let Your love take root in me until it grows into compassion, grace, and patient understanding. May others come to know You because Your love lives in me.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lamentations 3:22-23 – Even Through the Bad, God is Faithful

Image
The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. --Lamentations 3:22-23 NASB The most significant thing about this wonderful passage is where we find it in the Bible. The Book of Lamentations tells of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, which took place over 587 and 586 BC when Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar overran the city. The surviving inhabitants either fled to other countries, were carried away to Babylon as slaves or remained under the brutal rule of an occupying force. Lamentations does not name its author, but it is generally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. For many years Jeremiah had warned the people and their leaders about their unfaithfulness to God. Jeremiah knew that being chosen by God did not translate to a free pass. He knew that actions had consequences. If God's people were not faithful to God's instructions, bad things would happen. But even...
Read more

Study of James 5:19-20

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins. — James 5:19-20 James concludes his letter with a final exhortation, emphasizing the importance of restoring those who have wandered from the truth. He speaks to the responsibility believers have toward one another—not only to encourage and strengthen the faithful but also to help those who have drifted away from God’s path. James acknowledges that believers can stray, whether through sin, doubt, or deception. Rather than judging or condemning them, he urges the church to pursue them with love and compassion, seeking to bring them back to the truth. The one who helps restore a wandering soul is participating in a redemptive work, covering a multitude of sins. This phrase reflects the biblical theme that love and grace bring reconciliation, both between individuals and ...
Read more

Bible Study: Lydia

On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together. A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us. — Acts 16:13-15 WEB* On his second missionary trip, Paul visited the Roman colony of Philippi (FILL-uh-pie) along with Silas, Luke and Timothy. Philippi was on the famous Egnatian Road—a trade route from Asia to Rome. The city was important during the New Testament due to its agriculture, location, functioning gold mines, and Roman status. Lydia was a businessworman whose name may have come from the Hellenistic district where the town of Thyatira (thigh-uh-TIE-r...
Read more